THEKEY, a decentralized ecosystem of identity verification tools, big data and blockchain solutions, held an AMA event on Reddit, July 4th. Catherine Li, THEKEY’s Founder and CEO answered questions regarding the strategic cooperation with Chinese authorities and what this means for TKY holders.

The AMA was held against the backdrop of THEKEY’s Cooperative Agreement on Research of Blockchain Applications in Social Insurance Scheme with China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MHRSS) and the China Social Insurance Association (CSIA). The agreement will facilitate research in social insurance blockchain applications.

THEKEY are building a Blockchain-Based Dynamic Multi-Dimension Identification (BDMI) protocol that leverages Personally-Identifiable Information (PII) supplied by Chinese government authorities. A key implementation of the BDMI protocol is its Virtual Social Security Card Application, which won the Technology Innovation Award of 2018 at the China International Big Data Industry Expo in May this year.

The Virtual Social Security Card Application intends to solve one of China’s biggest frustrations in the health insurance industry. Insurance data is tightly regulated in the country and falls under the purview of Social Insurance Law; consequentially, patients face a convoluted – and sometimes expensive – process when claiming insurance payments. Patients visiting hospitals with incomplete insurance documents, for example, is a common problem; while some even choose to forgo their entitlements entirely due to steps involved.

Already, THEKEY has made considerable progress in rolling out its BDMI application: an MVP was released on the 30th of April (two months ahead of schedule) on the NEO TestNet. And so far, IDV services have been deployed to over 60 cities and over 200 million people in China.

Additionally, Li announced on June 30th that it would establish THEKEY Scientific and Research Fund with a total of USD $20 million that will be distributed over the next five years. The fund’s purpose is to mobilize resources in the field of healthcare and social insurance data and is open to universities and research institutions worldwide.

Below is a summary of the questions and answers in the AMA event. You can read through the full discussion here.

To begin, people asked questions about THEKEY’s relationship with the Chinese government and how the relationship will benefit each entity – including TKY holders. A user also asked if the government will adopt TKY as a cryptocurrency.

On the first matter, Li responded with “social insurance needs blockchain technology for the betterment and improvement of its management,” and that “[the relationship] will give blockchain a huge opportunity for its second revolution.” A detailed announcement by THEKEY that explores this question further can be read here.

Answering the second question of how the relationship will benefit TKY holders, Li reminded readers that the token’s value is determined by market forces and its underlying use-case. Thus, she states: “the token price might be low temporarily, but it will surely increase in the end as the project develops.”

But although Li appeared optimistic in her assessment of TKY’s potential value and adoption, she also reminded readers that “[the] discussion with the Chinese government is still ongoing,” – despite the belief that [the government] may adopt a cryptocurrency system “in the not-so-distant future, especially in the area of social insurance.”

So what are the determining factors of TKY’s adoption in China? The answer, it seems, circles back to the prerequisites of accepting cryptocurrency in the real world. Li admits that it “will still take an unknown period of time for the Chinese legislators to work out the corresponding laws, acts and regulations,” but she is also becoming “more and more optimistic” based on their progress collaborating with government officials.

Li then answered a broader question about THEKEY’s positioning in the cryptocurrency market and if the platform will become a household name; her response was clear and unequivocal: “TKY will be a household name. As it’s mentioned in my opening speech, TKY can be used by 1.4 billion people who are covered by the Chinese social insurance scheme.” Supporting her argument further, Li noted that the 1.4 billion people covered by the Chinese social insurance scheme is worth an estimated USD 1.5 trillion annually.

Shifting away from the company’s operations and revenue potential, Li also answered a series of questions about its funding platform. She claimed that applicants to the fund should have “outstanding achievements in relevant fields,” and should represent an academic, commercial, government, or NGO institution. Furthermore, the applicants should be willing to follow all data and security regulations prescribed by the Chinese government.

Besides monetary sponsorship, the fund will also provide a variety of support functions. Some examples include: industrial and technical resources; government support; access and provisioning of data; and potential collaborations with THEKEY’s technical team, among other services.

Li also grouped the types of projects funded into four thematic areas. First is the research and application of blockchain technology in Chinese social insurance services. Second is the research on operation and maintenance of medical resources Group Purchase Organizations. Third is the research on security and supervision of blockchain technology application. And fourth is the “processing, analysis and application of healthcare big data.”

A final question was asked on how the 20 million dollars will be used, and if it will be used for research only or for investment purposes. Li stated that the funds will only be used for research, and that “the current fund will not be used for investment in any form for any purpose.”

There were numerous other questions asked by users in the AMA session that can be read here. Li answered queries about THEKEY’s Proof-of-Stake consensus algorithm, economic model, IDV requester, validator, and others.

More information on THEKEY can be found at the links below.

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